The North Central College football program’s evolution into one of the nation’s most prolific offensive attacks began in earnest with quarterback Kam Kniss ’07 under center. In four years as the Cardinals’ signal-caller, he broke nearly every passing record on the program’s books and set the tone for what continues to be a thrill for fans to watch and a nightmare for opposing defenses.
Intrigued by the culture coach John Thorne was establishing at North Central, Kniss needed little convincing to matriculate to Naperville. While he knew he would have the chance to start right away, he did not anticipate the adoption of such a pass-heavy approach.
“I was set on another school coming into my junior year of high school, but my neighbor recommended checking out North Central,” Kniss said. “I came to campus and just fell in love with it and bought into what coach Thorne was doing with the program.
“At the time, they had a good running back, so I knew we were going to run the ball. As we recruited and our personnel changed, we moved out of the I-formation and started to spread the ball around a little bit more.”
As a sophomore, Kniss established new school records for pass completions (179), yards (2,446) and touchdowns (20), and the Cardinals finished with an overall record of 7-3 with the three losses coming by a total of 15 points. Kniss eclipsed each of those figures during his junior season, completing 211 passes for 3,186 yards and 29 TDs. He earned College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Offensive Player of the Year honors as North Central qualified its first NCAA Division III Football Championship and the second postseason game in its history.
“It was obviously special to be a part of a group that did something that hadn’t been done in a very, very long time,” he said. “The support from the College and the community was great, and we pretty much had a sellout crowd that first game. The response to the fact that we were playing playoff football at North Central was pretty fun.”
Kniss helped lead the Cardinals to two more milestones during his senior season in 2006, again establishing single-season school records for completions (244) and touchdowns. North Central won a share of its first CCIW championship since 1960 and returned to the Division III Championship, recording a first-round win for the first time. Kniss repeated as the CCIW’s Offensive Player of the Year, making him the first Cardinal to be so recognized twice. He still owns several of North Central’s passing records, including the career standards for completions (753), yards (10,226) and touchdowns (91).
Kniss attributes the Cardinals’ ability to sustain its recent success to a culture which values the contribution of each individual toward the ultimate goal of team success.
“It’s really an all-for-one, one-for-all kind of mindset,” he pointed out. “Everybody’s a part of the team and figures out what his role is, and that role could change from one season to another. Everyone just wants to win, and you do what you can to help the team do that. That’s what has made the program so successful. We always want to get better and advance to the next step, so everyone needs to continue to do their part to get there.”
Kniss continues to prepare like a quarterback in his daily life, applying the same mindset and attitude fostered in his collegiate experience in a continuing effort to advance to the next step.
“Whatever I’m doing, whether it’s at work or at home, I want to be prepared,” he said. “I learned a lot about how to be a team player and how to lead. That’s something that has helped me a lot in my professional career, to be able to sit in a room with others you may not know and be confident that whatever you’re there to do, you can do it.”
